The Indian Telecommunications sector headed by Mr. Kapil Sibal came out and boldly announced that the goal of the government is to make India as one Circle and abolish the roaming charges. I’d like to point out two implications of this move by the government which they may have thought or not,
- As this becomes effective, roaming rates could get aligned with local tariffs and in the process premium is reduced.
- Incoming call will be free while roaming in different circles and rates aligned with local tariffs.
There is a small loophole / advantage for arbitrage seekers in the second case. A migrant Laborer from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar may subscribe in his home state and make use of the Scarce Spectrum in Mumbai / Delhi without paying any additional tariff. We all know that Spectrum Price / MHz in Mumbai is atleast 10 to 15 times more expensive than in UP and Bihar. I agree the quantum will be small maybe less than 10%, but any such loopholes will lead to Blackmarketing 🙂 Thus the Government must align Spectrum Pricing at National Level before making India One Circle / Free Roaming Across India.
I have repeatedly requested for a clear road-map on Tariff policies of the Government should be in line with Spectrum and Licenses. Despite this, if the Mr. Sibal goes ahead with free roaming / India One Circle idea, mobile call tariff could move little higher as operators need to recover differential spectrum costs and higher cost of operation in certain markets.
It is just a populist move by Mr. Sibal to get his name in History but he’ll always be remembered for his Zero Loss Theory in the Telecom Spectrum Scam.